The Clueless Emotions Story
by FarndeeAddam
Summary: Here's the story of how three brothers and two moody girls from 1993 formed together and became a band known as "Clueless Emotions". Being told from the perspective of the lead vocals 20 years later, he will say it all. (This story takes place WAAAYYY before HuniePop, Glenberry and the current life of Aiko Yumi and Lillian.)
1. Freshmen Year

**I wanted to give Aiko and Lillian a bit of origin and I have made me and my brothers fictional characters who have played guitars since the age of 12.**

 **I depict Aiko as an Emo girl who starts off as someone who has no place in the world. I would think of Lillian as a drummer if she likes to bang against items and finding the rhythm in it.**

 **I came up with this story since August 2016. It never came to fruition until 2 months ago, when I posted the first chapter on DeviantArt.**

 **Anyways, here's the story, so enjoy!**

* * *

It all started back in January 12, 1993, when my brothers and I were transferred to a high school called "Stokedville Junior High". We were in our freshman years and attended different classes. I attended Geometry class, my brother Aswad attended History class, and my youngest brother Aiman attended art class.

 _*School bell starts ringing*_

Classes here lasted 2 hours and it was recess now. We all head to our lockers to fill them with our books and homework. While I was filling up my locker, a girl was leaning against a locker next to mine. She was reading a Physics book. She had messy and teased hair, big nerdy glasses, a skull hair bow, a miniskirt with ruffles, a black shirt with striped sleeves, fishnet stockings and high-heeled Gothic leather boots. A couple was walking by and stopped for a bit. The man was whispering something into his lady's ear that I could not hear. The couple quickly walked away when the Emo girl and I saw them. We were left confused on what was going on here.

Meanwhile, after my brothers organized their lockers, they went to the cafeteria, finding something to eat. Sadly, they were serving baked beans and cold mashed potatoes. Nonetheless, they ordered it because there was nothing else on the menu. They found an empty lunch table and claimed it before anyone else. While having lunch, they noticed a few Scene kids next to their table. A guy in a varsity jacket called them a few names that sounded insulting and "down-bringing". Aswad and Aiman wanted to defend them, but because they were freshmen, they should not do it.

 _*School bell starts ringing again*_

Recess was over. My brothers and I headed back to our respective classes, this time, we all had maths. To my surprise from Aswad, the Emo girl was in the same class as him. My brother was looking around and he heard a few students calling her a few names. Some of them called her a loser, a freak and "princess of darkness". She was eavesdropping and heard them, too. She felt a bit vulnerable from this. Standing out of his of freshman year and gaining courage, Aswad defended her, silencing the other kids. 20 minutes into class, I needed to use the bathroom, so I asked the teacher for the pass. The moment I entered the bathroom, I witnessed a student getting soaked with toilet water. Kids these days called that "swirlie". I had to ignore this because I went in just to pee. Aiman did not have much going on in his class, other than a few students sleeping.

School was done for the day and everyone was relieved to leave. Through the entire day, my brothers and I did not say much at all. I, for one, did not say anything at all. Also, during our time on the first day, we did not make any new friends, neither did we make any progress in our education. But what we do know is that if we stick together, we can get through this.

* * *

It was the next day of school and the Principal announced a musical competition happening in 2 months. My brothers Aswad and Aiman were really good with guitars. My vocals may not be a tenor, but it was enough to sing loudly. I placed my name, along with my brothers', on the board and we were settled. Immediately after getting our names filled in, the other students fought for next place in signing up, crowding almost half of the hallway. After that, we, as usual, even though it was only yesterday, we went to our classes.

The school bell rang and it was recess again. The three of us went to the cafeteria and this time, they had something else on the menu - fries! But...they're soggy. However, we ordered it anyway to escape the forsaken beans and mashed taters. After we ate what was left on our platters, we had extra time and wandered the halls. While walking, I stumbled upon the music class. The room was wide, wider than the school gym. It was filled with all kinds of instruments you can imagine. From tubas to trumpets, pianos to bongos and harps to cellos. Every instrument in the entire world was in that room.

We went into the room and played with a few of the instruments. Aswad picked up an electric guitar and did a fast chord without messing it up. Aiman went for the bass and accompanied the fast chord. I completed the rock ambiance with some vocals. We were there enjoying the experimented sound for nearly 2 minutes before recess ended.

We had to leave the room quickly when we heard people entering the place through another door.. While my brothers went back to theirs, I stayed behind to observe the people entering. 7 students and a teacher entered. They were practicing for something. Half of me said they were rehearsing for the competition, while the other half of me said they were doing this because they refuse to do their projects.

It seems as though they (including the teacher) were so focused on the musical project, they would ignore anyone or anything around them. With that, I hid behind one of the bleachers to have a better look at this rehearsal. They have been doing this for about 20 minutes. Out of the 7 students , there was one girl who was REALLY Gothic. She had very pale skin, wore a tube top, a spiked bracelet, and had pigtails. Oh, and a few piercings - snakebites, a nose stud and three rings on her left ear.

She was told to play the maracas, which she reluctantly did. After 6 of the 7 students left, the Gothic chick stayed behind. After everyone was gone, at least she thought everyone was gone, she threw the maracas back into a box and walked to the drum set, fascinated by its appearance.

She stared right into the set, as if she is imagining about ruling the world with her amazing drumming skills, rocking every stadium, earning lots of cash, and be on a cover of Alternative Press. She began to play the drums the moment she sat behind the drums. However, she was more of practicing than learning.

I left the place and was thinking about the girl. "She could be in a band with us. She is really good with those drums. Might as well get her involved with the musical competition. She might blow the whole school away with those skills".

And so, the school period has ended once again and I talked to my brothers about this girl I saw in the music room hours ago. They were thinking about having a drummer in the band. Until then, I hope to see this girl again so I can talk to her about this.

 **The End. Part 2 coming soon.**


	2. A Music Competition

Today is another day for me and the two guys whom I have lived with for about 17 years. Class doesn't start for the next 20 minutes, so I had to time to wander around in hopes of finding the girl with the drums. With not much luck, I headed into the principal's office and asked him if I could have a quick look at one of the school records. I asked him for the goth girl's record. He gave it to me and found out about her social behavior, grades, age and...Oh. Sorry. I was suppose to look for her class. It says in the record that her class is Poetry. I thanked the principal for the record and asked him again. This time, the location of the poetry class. He told me it was three lockers to the right.

After three lockers to the right, I found the door to the class. I peeped through the blinds and speak of the devil, she was there. She was way at the back of the class. I was not sure if she was writing something or just sketching something. She was not that social at all. I could not barge in there, nor should I knock, as a session was happening right now. I left the place and headed to my class. During class, I am thinking of the right words to say to this girl or I will mess everything up. After all, she looked aggressive.

Lunch time approached and I will find the girl again. After wandering around the cafeteria, I saw her. I walked up and talked to her about something I am planning to do. Here was the conversation:

 **Farndee :** Hello, my name is Farndee. What's yours?

 **Mystery Girl :** What's up? I'm Lillian.

 **Farndee :** I was wondering about this ever since I saw you...

 **Lillian :** If you're asking me out, I'm not interested.

 **Farndee :** No. That's not it. Would you join me in something?

 **Lillian :** Not again..

 **Farndee :** What is it?

 **Lillian :** Are you asking me to join a cult?

 **Farndee :** No! It's nothing like that, either. Listen.

 **Lillian :** Alright, what?

 **Farndee :** Do you...want to...join me...in a band?

Lillian gave an unsure look. As if something like this was asked before.

 **Lillian :**...first...why?

 **Farndee :** Well, there's this music competition coming up and I am thinking about us ruling the world with our amazing rock sound.

 **Lillian :** Who is us? Will it just be the two of us?

 **Farndee :** Nope. I will invite my brothers to be in it, too.

 **Lillian :** Okay. Fine. I will join this band. When are we starting?

 **Farndee :** Tomorrow. Or after lunch. It's your choice of rehearsal time.

 **Lillian :** We'll do it...after lunch.

 **Farndee :** Okay, great. See you.

 **Lillian :** Bye. *whatever*. Wait!

 **Farndee :** Yes?

 **Lillian :** What should I be in the band?

 **Farndee :** You should be the drummer.

 **Lillian :** Why should I?

 **Farndee :** Because you look great as a drummer.

 **Lillian :** What a minute. Did you watch me play the drums yesterday?

 **Farndee :** Yes...

After that, Lillian walked away. I was not sure if she was embarrassed or angry with me. All I knew was she agreed to join the band as the drummer. Lunch was over and I was heading back to my class. I met up with my brothers and I told them the Mystery Girl, named Lillian, was in. We were all set to join the competition and to form this band. 12 minutes later, I excused my brothers from their classes and told the teachers we were practicing for the competition.

We were now in the music class and had our instruments ready. We were playing like a real punk band. Me with the vocals, my brothers at the guitars and Lillian at the drums. The fingers and the wrists were doing so much job. I sang at the top of my lungs to get my voice right. It was finally at its limits of pitch. However, something was missing. While we were all great with the instruments, speed and rock vibes, we did not have rhythm. So I played another guitar for rhythm. Unfortunately, focusing on the rhythm guitar distracted me from singing.

At this point, we needed another member. One who can keep everything in beat and rhythm. I told my brothers and Lillian to resume rehearsal while I go around and find another member. Most of the students have already entered the competition as other bands and solo artists, while others were just not that talented or interested. In the end, they refuse to help us with our band.

With so many students declining my offer, I asked that one girl I encountered at the lockers days earlier. I did not know where her class was, so I went back to the principal office for some help. He lent me the record of the girl I described. I found out her name was Aiko and she was in Physics. I walked through the hallways, finding the Physics class. 2 minutes later, I found it. There was a very serious session happening right now. I did not want to reschedule my meeting with her, as that would be a waste of time at rehearsal. I had to get into the class, I talked to her and asked her about joining a band.

 **Farndee :** (to Aiko) Do you want to join me in a band?

She was scared at first, as this was suddenly asked by a person whom she saw at the lockers next to her.

 **Farndee :** Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you like this or ask a question out of the blue.

She was still not responding, because I was a stranger to her.

 **Farndee :** Listen. If you do not want to talk about this right now, we can do it later.

As I begin to walk away, she called back to me and said:

 **Aiko :** What's in it for me?

I told her we could make money off of this, we could win this competition, and she doesn't have to take any type of boring jobs. She was not interested in joining us or anything, because according to her record, talent was her least favorite thing.

 **Aiko :** Look, I am not looking for talent or success. I just need to focus on my studies and let my life just slowly fade away.

She was getting very deep and lost into explaining her reason not to join. However, she did go back to the thought of joining a group.

She was deciding again and again, again and again. As well as asking herself about her future and career.

 **Aiko :** What could happen to me? What should I do in the future? What would my parents think of me?

Along the way to the music class and then entering, she was still asking to herself about her future plans. My brothers and Lillian saw us entering.

I eventually stopped her from deciding and asking by giving her a guitar which is known as "rhythm guitar". She held it, put the strap around her, found the strings to hold down and was off with the guitar. She looked so into the guitar, just shredding away onto it. This led me to think she did something outside her studies on physics and what-not.

We have rehearsed and practiced for about 30 minutes. Everyone was so into playing their individual instruments. I had fun, too. Warming up my vocals by singing high-noted songs. The competition, however, was 2 months away. We rehearsed for 10 more minutes and then headed back to our classes.

During my time looking for the Physics class, Aswad, Aiman and Lillian were discussing about their future plans and the band. Aswad was talking about moving out of his parents' house when he makes a lot of money, Aiman would continue living in the house, but also thinks about moving out. Lillian would just make money and use it to buy more t-shirts, chains, skulls, and other hardcore stuff she could find at a good price.

For the next 2 weeks, we've been leaving our classes to practice on our instruments and the band.

We were so hyped and exaggerated, we were no longer competitive. But that does not mean we were not entering the competition, we just loved doing what we did. We felt like an army of soldiers, equipped with our weapons to rule every country. For the next month, while we were rehearsing almost non-stop, we started having sudden emotions we could not explain. They were not emotions of sad, happy, angry, scared. Nothing like that. These emotions occurred when we were in the middle of rehearsing. And I have realized we were developing these emotions when we started to form a band. We didn't know about this until now when everyone was randomly shouting, crying, laughing, etc. We might not be geniuses (except for Aiko), but we were clueless on how these sudden emotions work.

It seems as though we did not want to stop these emotions, because they could work on our upcoming band career and the competition. It was almost time for the competition and we rehearsed one more time before the day was over. We all headed home with a lot of tired faces and injured hands. We were all in our beds, hoping for this dream and career. We bid farewell to the day and closed our eyes to enter slumber land.

 **The End. Part 3 coming soon.**


	3. Picking the Perfect Ones

Let's just fast forward to the next week, because nothing really happened on the previous week. All we did was practice.

It was 7:35a.m, my brothers slept through 30 minutes of school. I got up at 7:00a.m and waited for my brothers to wake up.

When they did not, I woke them up 30 minutes later because I was an idiot. They both got ready and rushed to school. Aiko and Lillian have been waiting impatiently for us at the school entrance. They looked at us as if they were our mother and aunt.

The five of us went through the door and into the hallway, seeing every student practicing on their instruments and vocals. The locker-filled hallway sounded like spectators on the bleachers of a football game. There was so much chattering!

We tried our best to ignore the sounds to get to the music class. Fortunately, the instruments were still there and no one touched them.

We borrowed the instruments for the competition, just like everyone else. The competition has begun and we were told to go last for unknown reasons.

I might as well just explain how the competition went; the competition started with a kid playing a ukulele to some kind of tropical song not many people knew. The judges, which were teachers and the principal, gave the boy |2|, |2| & |3|.

The next students were three girls playing different kinds of instruments that would not go well together.

The first girl played a violin, the other played a keyboard and the last one played an electric guitar. The chemistry did not go so well. It nearly made the whole class deaf. The score was |0|, |0.3|, |0|.

As the students were performing, we were sitting with the others to past the time and watch every horrendous performance past.

You would not believe Aiko and Lillian. Aiko was reading Physics and Mathematics books during the whole session and Lillian was texting her friends from another school.

Nearly every student in the entire school signed up for this. It was eventually down to a few students and groups.

Another rock band, 5 groups, 12 students and, of course, us. This rock band was really good, having the sound so synchronized and well-tuned. We had a bit of anxiety and jealousy.

After their performance, the judges gave them |9.5|,|8|, |8.8|. This was really getting to Aiko. She would be depressed if we don't make it, as well as her anxiety taking over and fearing she would not get a proper job.

We told her to calm down and just let it go. She did exactly what was said and we went up on that stage with our equipment.

The students and the judges were really starting to see an actual competition. Band vs. band.

Aswad started with a strum, then it was Aiko and then it was Aiman. The students were fascinated and skeptic to see a combination of random emo kids play instruments and become a band.

Our sound was not too generic, not too loud and not too mainstream. We had a sound only for the ones who were left out in the corner by doubters.

After our performance, we unexpectedly moved everyone, even our competition. The judges gave a clear |10|, |10| & |10|.

To see something like this was not what we had in mind. I guess we did have something magical after all.

I did not want to tell you guys what did we play during our performance.

However, I will tell you it had the sound of Green Day's "Kerplunk" and The Cure's "Wish".

We enjoyed ourselves on that stage singing to get into the next spot. So far, we made it. 3 groups and 5 students were shamefully eliminated.

That left 2 groups, 7 students and us.

Hours past, and we have been staying in the competition. We have eliminated 3 students so far. Our rival was getting better than us somehow and they have eliminated a group.

We played again and again. Eliminating the last group. It was nearly down to us, our rival, and two students.

We poured our hearts out and played another moving song. Everyone was so in tears. The judges had the look of letting us continue and go further.

Our rival was eventually losing support in each other and from the students, leading them to almost snapping. ALMOST!

They were able to control their temper. We did not want them to lose their temper. Nope. We were supportive...sort of. Lillian was just in it to win it.

She was just hoping to see one of the members explode in rage and destroy school property.

10 minutes later, Aiman was peeping around a corner and heard one of the members say something about injuring one of us.

He told us about this and we should make sure none of us were going to be critically and temporarily injured.

Our rival took out another student. As this competition turned more and more serious, they sounded more heavy metal. We stick with our basic music style, preventing us from going any further with other genres.

We performed again. This time, I was getting a bit worn out with my voice. My vocals chords were drying out quickly. I figured out their plan; if I kept singing better, they plan to force us to change our sound, resulting in my vocals being damaged until further notice. Good thing we didn't.

Nonetheless, I was able to control it for a few more performances. As our rival went on to perform, their style and fashion were getting less favorable responses from the audience, as well as the judges.

They (the judges) had to lie and give them an average score of |5|, |7.5| |9|. This did not bother us one bit because we understood this; you have to lie to make people happy.

With that, they eliminated the last student, leaving Clueless Emotions and The Rival (I gave us those band names because they just sound so good).

And so, it was down to these two bands. One super metal-hardcore and the other basic pop punk. We were ready and we were armed. Time for the finals!

 **The End. Part 4 coming soon**


	4. Clueless Emotions vs The Rivals

Let's do this! We were set to play against the Rivals. For some unbelievable reason, the venue switched to the school football field.

It looked like a showdown in front of every student and staff in the school.

Each band performs three songs. We found good songs to sing and perform to. The Rivals kept on finding new sounds to rock out to, ranging all the way to more metal rock.

This time, the judges would give us their final judgement. No cards, no numbers, just a yes or a no, as well as writing it down on a piece of paper.

Before the stage, we had a little team spirit huddle:

 **Farndee :** "Alright, boys...and girls. Are you ready?"

 **Aswad :** [unenthusiastic] "yeah..."

 **Aiman :** [anxious] "I guess..."

 **Aiko :** [bored] "Yes."

 **Lillian :** [deadpan] "Sure, whatever."

 **Farndee :** "Remember, my friends. Whatever happens out there will be a part of us for the rest of our lives."

 **Everyone :** [silence]

 **Farndee :** "What I am saying is "Either we do this or we don't do it at all'".

It seems as though not much support was given, but we were ecstatic, yet also nervous.

Nervous, we went on. Playing a song by Green Day called "2000 Light Years Away" from their album "Kerplunk!".

Aswad started off with a nice shred, then Lillian, then Aiman, and finally Aiko. I finished it off with the lyrics.

 _"I sit alone in my bedroom, staring at the walls. I've been up all damn night long, my pulse is speeding, my head is yearning."_

Everyone started putting up their hands and showed us some rock signs. Usually, you would the rock sign to mean "Metal", but the song we played was not metal. Anyways, it was still nice to see this type of support.

After it, our performance was actually admired and praised. People loved how we put a lot of effort in playing this. This resulted in The Rivals losing their fan following.

The Rivals were up. As soon as they were on that stage, everyone gave a few scowls, squinch eyes and sour frowns. You could already tell nobody liked them now.

Despite all those faces, they performed. With instruments equipped, they played the most ear-bleeding song known to mankind.

We couldn't identify it because, of course, it was extremely loud. They tried to use this as a "tactic" to win. Unfortunately, in the end, they were booed and disqualified.

A few students had bleeding ears, most went almost deaf, the judges held their pens so tightly and wrote giant zeros on the papers. The Rivals could not believe they were disqualified and they lost their temper.

All four were destroying their drums, guitars, a keytar, and threw the microphone to the spotlight. They shouted at the students and called them "F*CKERS!"

It was the most hilarious thing we have ever seen in our freshman year. The judges couldn't announce us as winner with a bit of loss of hearing so they simply gave us the award of the musical competition. Usually, they would give you a "thank you" speech. But, we didn't get one. We did not have anything to say about this.

The Rivals looked at us, and their eyes said "We will get our revenge one day!". We walked away without looking at them. Celebrating a little, we headed to a cafe and had some soda, except for Aiko. I paid for it all with my lunch money.

My brothers and Lillian had too much soda and stepped out of the place. They walked out with a bit of trouble breathing. I helped the three of them.

No, I didn't take them to a doctor, I just helped them burp. Yup, you heard it, I helped them burp. I patted their backs gently. It was kinda hard to handle this.

Their stomachs were struggling and rumbling, but no, they were not going to take a dump.

I called out Aiko to assist me.

 **Farndee :** "Aiko, come out here. I need your help!"

Aiko ran out of the cafe to us as soon as possible.

 **Aiko :** "I'm here! What do you need me to do?"

 **Farndee :** "Pat on her back."

 **Aiko :** "What?"

 **Farndee :** "Do it in any way you can."

 **Aiko :** "Okay..."

Sheesh! These kids were having a hard time burping. I knew it was not anything critical because none of them collapsed or fainted.

 **Farndee :** "Come on, Aiman. You can belch it out. You too, Aswad. Both of you could release this."

Aiko got close to Lillian, hugged her, and gave a few consoling and comforting words to her softly, all while she was patting her back. However, it wasn't necessary.

 **Aiko :** "There, there, Lilly. It's okay, take your time. You can get it out if you need to. I'll be here".

She was talking like some kind of motivational speaker or a psychiatrist.

Lillian seemed a bit annoyed by this. She felt like being treated as a one-year old, giving the need to pat on one's back to release gas from the mouth. Her one-year old part of her life was a complete embarrassment.

Either way, Aiko finally got Lillian to burp by patting a little harder on her back. I did quite the same for the two and it worked.

My brothers and Lillian were breathing properly again. People across the road saw us help the three. One of them congratulated us for being so helpful and caring.

This was bizarre but another man gave us $30 for doing that. So, we're winners AND heroes? Whatever, this was something we can live with.

 **The End. Part 5 coming soon.**


	5. The Truth of the Rivals

3 weeks later, we continued playing for our school and we have been garnering touching support from every teacher and student.

We never made any original material for the band to play, so we kept on covering other bands, instead. For the past week, we kept on using more advanced instruments, making our sound a little more unique.

Even though the music competition was over weeks ago, they still wanted us to play on the auditorium stage after school. Aiman sometimes wouldn't show up for practice or rehearsal, usually calling it off as illness.

We also found out the members of the Rivals had disbanded due to anger and failure. We didn't really care much because we didn't have a reason to. However, they didn't vandalize the school by graffiti or anything illegal. They just refused to even look at one another in the eyes. That failure really impacted the four of them.

Whenever the four look at us, they just want revenge. Being half emotionless, I wasn't frightened by this, just confused. I mean, we were good sports. We didn't mock them, taunt them or humiliate them. We just played fair. They had no reason to be so angry and vengeful towards us. We had a little group conversation in front of my locker:

 **Farndee:** I am just very curious to why they're just directing their anger towards us.

 **Aswad:** Who knows, maybe they got up on the wrong side of the bed?

 **Aiman:** I'm not suppose to care.

 **Aiko:** Only their parents know. *shrugs*

 **Lillian:** *texting*

Lillian didn't seem to care much but I don't blame her. That's just basic Lilly.

 **Farndee:** Do you think one of us should talk to one of them?

Aiko pecked her fingers while thinking.

 **Aiko:** Lilly, how about you talk to one of them...

Lillian was surprised by this. Her eyes widened by the slightest. She said...

 **Lillian:** Maybe in 3 minutes, just need to finish this text I am sending to my friends from another school.

 **Farndee:** Okay. Take your time.

Lillian was finally done with her text message and she chased after one of the former members, even though she said she needed 3 minutes before going for it. According to what I've heard, Lillian told me the members name was Joseph. The conversation started:

 **Lillian:** Hey.

 **Joseph:** What!

 **Lillian:** So my friends wanted me to ask you why are you so angry at us after we won the competition?

 **Joseph:** You just answered your own question, Robert Smith!

 **Lillian:** Don't you dare call me that! Listen, we just wanna know and we wanna know the truth. THE truth and nothing BUT the truth.

 **Joseph:** Fine. If you wanna know...

 **Lillian:** That's why I am here.

 **Joseph:**...here's the reason. The leader of the former band, Riley, wanted a band to succeed through metal and post-punk. He kept on pushing us to be the very best. He made sure our instruments were in-sync and well-tuned. He knew if we ever made one mistake, the band could lose everything to another. And that's where you five fit into this story. He saw other students forming bands and he doubted them all, saying they didn't have a chance against us. The band you and your friends formed, "Clueless Emotions" as that's what your leader calls it, was something quite different to his eyes. He was a bit anxious to see a group like you compete with us...

 **Lillian:** Hold on, hold on, hold on...

Lillian wanted to stop the explanation just for a minute.

 **Lillian:** When I was first brought into this band, I was doubtful, too. Didn't really think we had a chance. Oh, and I wouldn't call Farndee "our leader". Sure he leads us and he's the one doing mostly the singing, but he treats us like four great people. Okay, back to what you were saying?

 **Joseph:** Anyways. He was a bit anxious when we competed against you. His nightmare was seeing us losing to you, which actually happened. I only destroyed my equipment because of the amount of stress Riley put on us. He was just shouting a lot to get us to play right.

 **Lillian:** I almost pitied you. I can't believe I am saying this but...

...I'm sorry.

 **Joseph:** Nah, it's fine. I don't blame you. Neither do I blame your friends. It was just stress. I have been so stressful for a few months now. Oh yeah, he told us months ago to get your friend to injure his throat so he couldn't sing anymore.

 **Lillian:** Yeah, I know. Aiman was eavesdropping and heard him say it. We actually wanted to know why he wanted to do it and you spilled the beans.

 **Joseph:** Sure. It was a pleasure telling you the truth. Now i can finally move on and do something better with my life.

With that, Lillian and Joseph thanked each other and walked away without saying another word.

Lillian came back towards us and gave us all the information about why the band was formed and wanted vengeance against us. Wait! She didn't get information about their plot of vengeance? Oh well, like I said, that didn't worry me. We went to our respective classes and fled the scene.

School was over. Everyone was waiting for us to play one more song before we head home. Despite the exhaustion, we played one more song. This time, a song by Queen called "Bohemian Rhapsody". We changed it only a bit. Aiko sat at the piano, Aswad was at electric guitar, and Aiman with Lillian, also Aswad, joined me in singing the opening.

 _"Is this the real life, is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality."_

The opening gave the students and teachers (especially us) chills. Aiko was playing the piano amazingly.

 _"Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see..."_

I was then off with this short line.

 **Farndee:** _"I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy."_

Aiman, Lillian and Aswad joined in again.

 _"Because I'm easy come, easy go. Little high, little low..."_

 **Farndee:** _"Anyway the wind blows..."_

 **Aiman, Aswad and Lillian:** _"...doesn't really matter to me..."_

 **Farndee:** _"...To me."_

* * *

 **10 MINUTES LATER.**

After the performance, we signed a few of the students' belongings. They were grateful and so were we. To see people supporting us because we do something good really touches us, but not much for Lillian. Two students complimented Aiko's ability to play the piano like that. She thanked them and they immediately wanted to know how did she play it that way. Aiko said she can't reveal too many secrets. The two students were fine and they will learn how to play just like Aiko one day.

All of us headed back home with sweaty faces and Aiko suffered minor blisters on her fingers from pressing the keys. She said she'll be fine. She will apply some ointment and let her fingers rest for 2 weeks. This meant Aiko should not join us for rehearsals or music sessions.

Heading home all together on foot, we discussed anymore future plans after graduating from high school. We had a conversation about those:

 **Farndee:** So, what do you guys plan to do after graduating? Which is 5 years ahead of us.

 **Aiman:** Thinking about playing games for a living.

 **Aswad:** What he said.

 **Aiko:** You know, I have never thought of future plans. I have always wanted to be a teacher. I would like to inspire students to succeed in their projects. So, I think I'll be a teacher.

 **Lillian:** I don't know. Maybe work at McDonald's?

Lillian's decision to work at McDonald's sound pretty stale. Oh well, whatever can get her paid could work out for her.

 **Farndee:** McDonald's? Hmmm. Good choice, I guess.

 **Lillian:** What? You don't think it's a good step forward?

 **Farndee:** No, no, no. Nothing like that. I thought I would picture you modelling.

 **Lillian:** Nah. I don't think my body is fit or thin enough to do some modelling.

Our walk stopped because we have reached Lillian's house. She walked towards it, opened the door and vanished behind it like a ghost.

After that, we continued walking and didn't say anything else after that. Aiko eventually arrived to her house and entered it.

My brothers and I came back home 10 minutes later with exhausted feet. We didn't want to do anything except shower and then sleep for the rest of the evening.

I said goodnight to both of them.

 **Farndee:** Good night, bros!

And they respond.

 **Aswad and Aiman:** Good night.

With that said and done, we turned off our light, got in our beds, pulled the blankets over us, and slept. I took one last look at the night sky before closing my eyes shut. And so, the day ends with the common peaceful slumber.

 **The End. Part 6 coming soon**


	6. We're Going On Tour!

Date : Thursday, April 5th, 1993, 6:22 a.m.

School. A place we learn, a place we discover. And a place we make new acquaintances at. The five of us roam the hallway in a line and people stared at us as if we were celebrities who just got out of a limousine. The sound of support as we went along was touching and great. Here came the Rivals wanting payback in their eyes. However, they were seen separately, not together.

The former leader, Riley, grabbed me by the shirt with his left hand, swung me to his right and against a locker. This couldn't intimidate me one bit. He then said something in my ear. The four of them looked at us.

 **Riley:** You listen here, loud and clear. Are you listening?

The non-intimidated me responded.

 **Farndee:** Yeah, sure...

 **Riley:** One day, I will rule the world and you will fall. I have more talent in me than your whole band combined. I don't need a band to get me to the top, I just need to play louder, harder, and more hardcore. And if you ever think of trying to get in my way, I swear I will bring you severe pain from your head to your toes. Is this message clear?

 **Farndee:** Clear as glass, sir.

I was not so scared or terrified by this. I replied with a simple, emotionless and calm tone.

 **Farndee:** Ummm... do you think you can let go of my shirt now? My brothers, my friends and I are ten seconds late for class.

 **Riley:** This ain't over. I have more to s-

I was quick to interrupt.

 **Farndee:** Yeah, yeah, yeah. I need to go.

This fierce man finally released his grip from the fabric of my shirt while still looking at me with rage.

 **Aswad:** Are you alright?

Aswad asked with a worried tone. He didn't want to see me as a dead man by the hands of Riley. Others were a bit concerned, too.

 **Farndee:** Yeah, I'm fine. This guy must be really vengeful. He must want us to crumble into the dirt so bad.

 **Aiman:** Is that what he really said?

Farndee: Yup.

 **Aiko:** All this time, he wanted us gone? Just because he wanted people to adore him?

 **Farndee:** From the tone of his voice earlier, pretty much.

Lillian then protested.

 **Lillian:** I'm gonna pound that guy for what he tried to do to you!

 **Farndee:** Lillian, please don't. It's fine. That's a great thing you wanna do for me, but this school doesn't allow violence.

Lillian was a little bit killed inside.

 **Lillian:** *sighs* Okay...

 **Farndee:** Now come on. We're late for class.

After this conversation about my well-being, we were off to our classes.

2 HOURS LATER.

We met up at the cafeteria discussing more about the band's future. But before we did, we ordered our food. Aiman and I ordered noodles, Lillian ordered drippy and soggy burgers, Aswad ordered soggy fries and Aiko ordered just salad.

We all sat down and discussed the future. The conversation began:

 **Farndee:** So, what do you think we should do about the band after we gained respect and support from it.

 **Aiman:** Go to a gaming convention?

 **Aswad:** What he said?

 **Lillian:** Become famous on TV?

 **Aiko:** Start a fan club?

It seems as though the other four had many plans for the band that weren't relevant, but nevermind.

 **Farndee:** Okay. Those plans are irrelevant with our career.

Aswad was quick to respond.

 **Aswad:** Sorry. I just don't know what can we do to continue the band. I mean, do you think we can go touring after graduating?

Now that idea doesn't sound useless at all.

 **Farndee:** That sounds like a good idea. We'll go touring. Alright, we can do the touring part. Well, not now.

 **Aswad and Aiman:** When can we do it, then?

I remembered something and it stayed with me long enough to say it.

 **Farndee:** So school scheduled a certain period of time of vacation in 3 days. I think it lasts for I'd say 4 weeks. That should give us enough time to organize venues, rehearse and rest so we can go on stage and around the country. You guys with me?

The four looked at each other and back.

 **The four of them:** HECK YEAH!

 **Farndee:** Hands in on the table and on the count of three.

The five of us put our hands on the table and got so hyped for the upcoming tour we were about to arrange.

 **Clueless Emotions:** ONE, TWO, THREE. TOUR!

We shouted so loud the whole cafeteria stopped and looked at us. We did not feel one bit of embarrassment. We were too stoked about our short tour.

After lunch, I headed off to the art class and grabbed a few supplies for the schedule I was going to write down.

During this time, my brothers and friends were rehearsing with their instruments. A lot of shredding, strumming and drumming was going on in there.

I have finally completed the schedule for the tour. However, I haven't planned on how many songs we should perform or what songs we should perform.

We were finally done rehearsing and I was done with the setlist. After this, we went back to our classes and studied hard.

Our minds were swirling with the thought of touring again. We just couldn't wait.

Our day was done once again and we all headed home together just like last time: Talking, joking, discussing and walking.

This time, Aiko and Lillian wanted to stay over even though we passed their houses a few walks behind. It looks like they can't go back, either. We were all too tired to do anything else. Aiko slept on the floor with the soft carpet and Lillian slept on the couch. Poor them.

My parents had extra blankets in the laundry room, so why not let the girls use them for one night. I mean, we didn't want them to get cold or something. And lastly, before I headed straight to my room, I caressed Aiko's head. It felt like she needed it after a long day. Lillian earned the same thing, too. Gothic girl has done so much, too. She might as well get an easy stroke on her head. Well, goodnight. Here's hoping to the tour and our career.

 **The End. Part 7 coming soon**


	7. The US Tour

**The US Tour**

For three days, my brothers, Aiko, Lillian and I rehearsed repetitively to make sure nothing went wrong with the drumming, strumming or singing. We were able to call up a few equipment workers from different warehouses that stored a lot of concert stuff. Sadly, they didn't work for free and we didn't have a lot in our pockets to pay them for it.

We had a bit of a struggle with the setup. We got the sound ready, but we didn't have platforms or spotlight. We thought about improvising these stuff by making our own. Lillian told me her parents owned a lot of headlights from cars they once owned. There was only one problem: Headlights don't work without a circuit (or a car).

Lillian will find something that could activate the headlights and get them working. Oh! Almost forgot; the headlights are suppose to be the spotlights in case you guys were confused.

Aiko told me her parents kept a lot of thick metal sheets and boxes in the garage. We could use those for platforms to stand on and for the drums. It was unknown how her parents obtained that kind of materials. I will not go into full explanation on how they had it.

And lastly, choreography. Wait a minute! We don't dance. So, forget about that. I was pretty sure that was all needed for the tour.

The school holiday started 3 hours ago and we have just called up an intern who just got his license and was eager to drive us around in a tour bus. This intern, named Stanley, rented this tour bus for about 5 months. 4 weeks might not be enough to complete the tour, so we might as well just skip 2 weeks of school after the 4 weeks were done. We could get our career at school destroyed, as well as our reputation.

However, we were doing this for the tour. It didn't matter to us if our education, studies, reputation or whatever get ruined. We, as teenagers, were allowed to do whatever we want to.

I was the first one to strike up a conversation.

 **Farndee:** Have we finally got everything ready for the tour?

 **Aiko:** Yesserry!

 **Aiman:** Most definitely.

 **Aswad:** yeah.

 **Lillian:** *texting*

 **Farndee:** Stan?

 **Stanley:** Yes?

 **Farndee:** Are you ready to drive?

 **Stanley:** Yes, boss!

 **Farndee:** Great! Aiko. You got the stuff?

 **Aiko:** Yup! It's in the back.

In the back? The tour bus had no back. Unless if it was where you store your suitcases.

 **Farndee:** okay...

I ignored about the stuff being in the back and resumed with the tour.

 **Farndee:** Anyways, let go!

We were off. We had our instruments in hand and jumped into the tour bus as if we were leopards charging after a deer. Stanley got into the bus driver seat, strapped on a seat belt, took a sip of his morning coffee he got from _Starbucks_ and fired up the engine to drive the bus.

* * *

We were now on the road for 5 hours and Aiman was asleep on his guitar. I had no idea how a person was able to sleep on a guitar; I mean the strings would leave vicious marks on your face and arms. This kid must have the most indestructible flesh if he felt so comfortable sleeping on the front of the guitar.

But anyways, Aiko was reading up on Physics and Mathematics for 2 hours after getting on the bus. Why would a girl like her bring a few books on the tour? We didn't need it. Lillian was texting her friends until she lost range of the signal. She was left to practice on the drums. She still had the drumming hands despite all the texting she did.

Aswad was just enjoying the bus snacks. The bus had chips and candy. Also, there were sodas, ranging from _100plus_ to _Coca-Cola_ and _Sprite_. I just ignored all that stuff because I did not want to get infected by the junk. Aiko brought healthier stuff on the bus like water and vegetables. Thank goodness she did.

 **Farndee:** Hey, can I have some of that?

She grabbed a plastic bag from her bag.

 **Aiko:** I bought more for anyone who wants some.

I took one of the containers and opened it, while also getting a plastic fork.

 **Farndee:** Time to enjoy health.

I munched down on the salad with Aiko watching me ravenously chew on it like an animal.

 **Aiko:** Slow down there, kid. You're gonna choke.

I talked with a mouth full of veggies.

 **Farndee:** (muffled) Okay, fine.

I slowed down on my chomping.

Once we were done with our snacking, we had a little bit of a conversation.

 **Farndee:** What do you think we should say before we start playing a song?

Everyone was silent. Disappointing.

 **Farndee:** Come on. At least something exciting.

 **Aswad:** [deadpan] _"hey everyone. how's it going? we are clueless emotions ans we ware here to perform for you."_

That sounded a bit boring from his tone, but that could work.

 **Farndee:** We'll go with that. Thanks, bro.

 **Aswad:**...

He was speechless by how I picked his choice of introduction.

 **Farndee:** Anyone else? Come on, let's not be whimps here.

 **Lillian:** How about we shoot fireworks?

 **Farndee:** Okay. That could work, too.

We were just rambling about what could make the tour look and feel exciting. However, we didn't want to go to over the top with our entrance. Fireworks were enough for a little spark.

Everything was getting out of our hands at this suggest so many things for the tour: animals, fire, confetti, flashlights, etc. We reached a final decision. We will just simply perform and entertain people the old-fashioned way. It was what we originally planned to do when we made the decision to tour. Performing for people was the one thing we wanted in the band.

* * *

A few more hours past, and we finally reached our first destination: The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Everything was set up and ready for the people waiting for us. The security finally let all of commiserating watchers in.

We were on that stage and we performed a blastoff song called "2000 Light Years Away", the same song we performed on the music competition.

 _"I sit alone in my bedroom staring at the walls, I've been up all damn night long._ _My pulse is speeding, my love is yearning."_

We wanted to start off with that song because it had an amazing opening feeling to it.

 _"I hold my breath and close my eyes and...dream about her, c_ _ause she's 2000 light years away"_

We performed 8 more songs, all I will not name. It was a blast performing on our first ever concert in front of people we didn't know.

After that, we immediately passed out when we entered the bus, as a result of jumping all over the stage while playing our instruments.

I congratulated us for completing the first show on the tour. Let's just hope we could do more. We wanted to try out this touring bit because we wanted people to know about us and how talented we were. Suddenly, we had a few girls and boys banging on our bus door and asked us for our autograph.

 **Fan #1:** Oh my god! You must be Farndee! Can I have your autograph?

 **Fan #2:** Me too.

 **Fan #3:** Don't forget about me!

 **C** **rowd:** *chattering*

 **Farndee:** Girls, boys! I will sign your stuff. Just calm down.

 **Aiko:** I have pens. Who needs one?

 **Aswad:** Alright. Let's do some signing.

 **Aiman:** I have my own pen. Who wants my signature?

 **Lillian:** I'm here. Who needs something written down?

We politely did so. You gotta help a few new fans out, despite the exhaustion. We were just teenagers, we didn't have much in us. Luckily, Lillian equipped us with _Red Bull_ and _Mountain Dew_. I was eyeing Aiko with her drink.

For the first time in her entire life, Aiko drank an energy drink. She wasn't suppose to do this, because her parents restricted her from drinking anything hyper or fizzy. However, her parents were not with her at the moment, and they did not even know about this or the tour.

I swear if we kept this up with the drinks and the tour, we would go nuts. We had to control ourselves or we would end up dead on a sidewalk.

Almost forgot about Stanley. He was taking a leak in the bus bathroom. He finally came out with a toilet paper stuck under his foot. It was embarrassing for us to see that under his shoe. He wasn't embarrassed one bit because he was a free man. He went back into the driver seat and we were ready for our next destination of the tour: Portland, Oregon.

 **The End. Part 8 coming soon**


	8. Welcome to Portland, Oregon

**Now before we get into this story, I just wanna let you guys know that I am slowly losing inspiration in this.**

 **I still want to work on this fan fiction, I do, but I am getting too tired and I can't find the right time to write another.**

 **Anyways, here's what I was able to write down. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Welcome to Portland, Oregon**

Spending 7 hours on the bus, we had to stop for five fill-ups while making our way to the next destination. The bus was quite low on budget and we couldn't afford the gas. Rationing the fuel and the money we have is vital for the tour.

The plan was to earn money from performing so we could pay some bills, food, gas, etc. It was quite struggling with payment, too. We were suppose to pay people to get into arenas so we could play. _I think I'm rambling too much right now._

 _Anyways, back to the story._ We were now in Oregon and we didn't perform for the next 3 hours because no one was lined up outside. We decided to visit a nearby cafe to see what would they have on their menu. They had fries, muffins, toast and other types of pastries. We went up to the counter and ordered our food. I ordered toast with butter, Aiman ordered muffins, Aswad ordered fries, Lillian ordered a piece of strawberry cake and Aiko ordered only salad.

We found a table to sit at and looked outside to view the beautiful city. Portland was such a nice place to relax and have a nice walk.

 **Farndee:** This place looks so great. Do any of you plan to move here?

 **Aswad:** Not really...

 **Aiman:** It's a nice place, but... not sure.

The girls didn't respond. They were waiting for their orders to arrive.

I spun my head around to look around the place and it was nicely decorated; plastic vines, flowers in pots, LED lights, it looked so pretty. The place wasn't so crowded, either. Probably slow business or the cafe was not that popular or too well-known.

Our orders finally arrived. We indulged on them with a few spices and sugary sweetness topped on all of them, except for Aiko's salad. Aswad was too out of control with his fries; he didn't share a single piece with any of us. He loved fries just as much as he loved music.

 **Farndee:** Jeez. Take it down, bro. You're gonna stop breathing.

With a mouthful of fries:

 **Aswad:** (muffled) Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.

He'll be fine? No! It's not fine. Death was not fine for him. I was very worried about him. Hearing him saying that was quite outrageous.

10 minutes later, I called out to the waitress.

 **Farndee:** Ma'am, can we have 3 _Sprite_ 's and 2 glasses of water.

 **Waitress:** Of course.

 **Farndee:** Thank you.

Our order of drinks has arrived on a circular brown tray. We took our own refreshments. We sipped them to the bottom of the cups.

 **Farndee:** I feel so stuffed.

 **Aiman:** Me too.

 **Aswad:** Me three.

 **Aiko:** I feel fine. And healthy.

 **Lillian:** I wonder if this place has a bathroom.

Lillian was looking for a bathroom because she needed to pee. It looks like she drank too much of _Red Bull_ before we arrived.

2 hours past and we made it to the stage to set up our equipment and rehearse on our instruments. Everyone, I would say 20 people, in front of the stage had already taken their seats and are just watching us tuning and practicing. We're performing for them even though the real show had not started yet.

Lillian was going well with the drums. Loving how she was able to progress with the speed and the beat.

 **Farndee:** Keep that up, Lilli! It sounds so exhilarating!

 **Lillian:** No prob, bro! _Even though you are not my bro._

Wow. She was getting really close with us. We were more sibling-like than band member-like. Despite being the drummer and the one being at the back to play her instrument, she felt like the front of the group. _I have no idea what I am saying here._

The show was starting. We made an entrance by having Aswad play a loud and long chord. Then it was Aiman and finally Aiko. I came out into the crowd seconds later and stopped on the very front of the stage.

.

 _"Hello Portland! Are you ready to have some fun tonight!?"_

.

Lillian started off a song with the fast drumming just like she promised. She looked so into it because she was clenching her eyes as she was moving so quick. Aiman had to immediately follow up with his guitar when the fast beat was over. Aiko had some mad strumming skills with the low-pitched chord and the hardcore strike. Aswad was accompanying all the sounds with his well-concentrated string plucking.

* * *

 _ **2 HOURS LATER**_

The performance was over and we were wrapping up here. We congratulated each other for another job well done. We totally blew the whole crowd with what we had. Behind the stage curtains, I caught Aiko caressing her guitar. You heard it! Caressing. Her. Guitar! Weird but usual.

We were done with all of our packing and we boarded the bus again. However, I had a second decision: We perform one more time in Oregon.

 **Farndee:** Guys. Why don't we perform one more song here before we go.

All the four can do is nod in agreement.

 **Aiko:** I'll get one of those giant speakers from the bus.

 **Aiman:** And I will get our stuff.

Aiman rushed back to the tour bus to get our guitars and drums. He dropped the snare and struggled to pick it up. Aswad went and assisted him in retrieving the equipment.

 **Aswad:** Here, let me help you.

 **Aiman:** Thanks, brother.

* * *

A few hours past, we had our equipment set up again and we were on the stage for one more song. We performed _"Welcome To Paradise"_ by _Green Day_.

.

 _"Dear mother, can you hear me whining? It's been three whole weeks"_

.

Being in stage had always been so exciting for the five of us. We get to move people through the power of music. Heavy and meaningful lyrics, fast instrumental and a crowd to perform to.

.

 _Since that I have left your home. This sudden fear has left me trembling. Cause now it seems that I am out here on my own._

 _And I'm feeling so alone_

.

Every night, when we play a _Green Day_ song, we made it the last song to be played in every state we perform in. Their songs were always the best.

* * *

After the song, we finally re-packed all of our stuff and shoved it at the back of the bus. With almost no energy left, we headed into the bus to get some liquid and gulped it down our throats. It was truly the satisfaction to taste something so refreshing.

We found our bus driver/intern, Stanley, asleep in one of the bunkers. He was sleeping in my bunker. How dare he?

 **Farndee:** Yo, Stanley, wake up!

I shook Stan's leg to wake him up. My mother told me this was the best way to wake someone up. He finally woke up and saw me staring at him with disgust. He immediately got out of the bunker and run straight for the driver seat to drive us to our next destination.

 **Stanley:** Alright, Farndee. I'm back to my job. Let's get a move on. Where are we suppose to go again?

I leaned closer to the chair and looked on his right side with a brief smile.

 **Farndee:** Washington, D.C, my friend.

Stan put on his seat belt and we went back to sitting in our places.

 **Stanley:** Alright! Here we go. Washington, D.C.

 **The End. Part 9 coming soon.**


	9. Exploring Portland-Off to Washington

**Before we get into this, I wanna let you guys know that I will stretching this story a bit further into each characters' previous and early lives. So that way, you get to know the characters a bit more from proper origin. I would like your feedback on how I picture Aiko here. Oops! Looks like I spoiled it a bit.**

 **Anyways, Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Exploring Portland/Off to Washington**

Just as the bus was moving 700 meters from where it was parked, I made a second decision:

 **Farndee:** Wait, stop the bus!

Stanely immediately pulled the brakes.

 **Stanley:** What is it?

 **Farndee:** Why don't we explore this city a bit longer.

The rest of the group were making tough and financial decisions. They thought really hard on this.

 **Aiman:** Sure, why not.

Apparently, Aiman agreed with my decision. We hopped out of the bus to go sightseeing, looking at more buildings and people. Despite the tour, we used some of our time to greet citizens and photograph the city and its structures.

Lillian was eyeing a cosmetic store; she saw lipsticks, blushers, eyeshadows, eyeliners, etc. She asked for some money from me, as I handled the money for the tour.

 **Lillian:** Thanks, man. I promise I'll give you your change, _if I could..._

 **Farndee:** You better. We lose even a single penny, the tour goes all wrong.

Lillian scoffed and turned away from me with sass and opened the door to the store. I watched her buy the stuff she needed. She bought everything that was black and purple. She wanted to fit her outfit with the makeup she uses.

While she was doing that, the four of us went into a wine store, even though we were not allowed to. We looked at all the bottles of wine displayed on racks, wine glasses served on tables for taste-testing, and wtaching the clerk polishing the bottles one by one.

Aiko wanted to try one, but the clerk stopped her before she could take even a sip from the glass.

 **Wine store clerk:** Miss. How old are you?

 **Aiko:** 18?

 **Wine store clerk:** Ooooo... Sorry, miss. You are not allowed to drink at that age.

 **Aiko:** Could I at least smell it?

 **Wine store clerk:** _*sighs*_ Very well, but don't stay here too long, I'll be closing this place up in 10 minutes.

After the clerk walked away while rubbing his hands with the cloth, Aiko took a whiff of the liquid from the glass, fascinated and aroused by the scent of aged grapes. She wished she could just take a sip, but she can't, as she was not at the appropriate age.

I took a shot at it and sniffed the wine, too. It smelled a bit "grapish", sour and strong. It was a smell I had never taken in through my nostrils in my entire life. Aiman and Aswad went for it as well. They forcefully closed their eyes the moment the aroma dove into their noses.

 **Aswad:** Wow! What a scent.

 **Aiman:** You said it. Never smelled anything like this before.

 **Aiko:** It smells good, in my opinion. What about you, Mr. Leader of the band?

I smelled it a bit more and then turned to the three.

 **Farndee:** It's not bad. But...it _is_ kinda sour.

3 minutes later, the clerk suddenly called out to us.

 **Wine store clerk:** Alright, you four. I'm closing up. It's time to leave.

We heard him loud and clear. We walked out the door and I waved goodbye to the man. We were now finding Lilli to meet up with her. She was texting and sitting on a bench just right next to the store we were in.

 **Lillian:** There you guys are. Been waiting for 5 minutes, you know.

 **Farndee:** Not really. You were busy shopping, remember?

We had no time to talk about who was waiting or who was busy. We needed to back on track. I checked my watch and it was getting late.

 **Farndee:** Shoot. We gotta get back on the road. Let's go!

 **The four of them:** OKAY!

Well, that was lame. Anyways, we headed for the bus, jumped into it, got in our seats and prepared for the worst.

 **Stanley:** Next stop, Washington!

* * *

 **7 HOURS LATER**

I was just pacing up and down on the bus, Lillian was asleep with her phone against her breasts, Aiko was reading up on a lot of Physics again, Aswad and Aiman were also asleep... _and_ drooling... _and_ sleeping next to each other.

I checked up on Stan and he was half-asleep; His eyes were near closing completely. He was a snore away from driving the bus off-road, crashing it and then sending it flying into the air.

 **Farndee:** Hey, Stan. Maybe you should take a break.

 **Stanley:** (sleepy) No... I'm fine... You can count... on me... boss...

I held the wheel for Stan, as I said to him...

 **Farndee:** Stan. You've been behind this thing for seven hours straight. Just take a break. We're not starting the next show for another day.

With a little bit of what he has left in his system, he drove us to a parking lot of a motel. We didn't rent a room because we had our own place to sleep: the bus.

Aswad woke up to the view of no hills moving or even the sound of the bus vibrating.

 **Aswad:** Why did we stop? Did we run out of fuel?

 **Farndee:** No. We had to stop because Stan almost fell asleep while driving. Right now, he is sleeping on the table.

 **Aswad:** Okay, then.

He went back to resume to his slumber. I continued to pace around the bus, and then paced outside to take a breath. Looking at the stars was the only beautiful sight around the area at the moment.

 **Farndee:** The sky looks so beautiful tonight. No clouds, no dust, nothing. Just a clear view of the twinkling stars. Aiko would love this, being a person who studies physics and all.

As I turned around, I noticed a silhouette behind the window of the bus. It had fuzzy and teased hair. It was staring at the night sky. I couldn't tell if it was Aiko or my imagination. I ignored it and stepped back into the bus to rest my head.

When I stepped back in, Aiko was staring outside. I guess it wasn't my imaginaton after all, she _was_ stargazing.

 **Farndee:** Hey, Aiko...

 **Aiko:** Hey, Farndee...

I looked out the window.

 **Farndee:** Are you looking at the stars?

Aiko looked down on the floor and sighed.

 **Aiko:** Yeah. It's gonna be the last thing I'll do when I'm gone, as well as the last thing I'll see.

 **Farndee:** Why are you saying that?

Aiko stood up from her seat and slowly walked back to her bunk.

 **Aiko:** _*sighs*_ You wouldn't understand anyway.

I quietly caught up to her. I needed to know why she was saying all this.

 **Farndee:** Aiko, please. No matter how hard it is, you have to tell me.

Aiko took a few deep breaths, adjusted her spectacles and finally spoke the truth.

 **Aiko:** I am living this horrible life. I wasn't suppose to learn this much of Physics or maths, my parents forced me to. The last thing they want me to do after I graduate is become a physics professor. I don't even know if I can handle the responsibilites of a teacher. If only my life could've turned out differently. I just wanna die.

What Aiko was saying sounded so deep and heartbreaking. She told me she didn't like talent, and now she told me she didn't want to become a teacher. It felt like Aiko had to keep this feeling to herself because she thought no one in the whole wide world would understand her emotions or pain. I responded with a comforting tone.

 **Farndee:** Aiko, it's okay. I understand your pain to the fullest.

 **Aiko:** How?

 **Farndee:** I hate myself way too much. My brothers knew about this, but I didn't want them to help me. I told them I could handle this, it was a usual behavior for me.

 **Aiko:** Then why do you look so happy?

 **Farndee:** I told you. I'm used to it.

Aiko lifted her glasses a bit to wipe her eyes because she was tearing up.

 **Aiko:** I wish I could live like that; happy but sad.

I gave Aiko a comforting and passionate hug.

 **Farndee:** But you don't have to. Don't be like me. Just be you...

I hugged her a bit tighter and she gave in to this.

 **Farndee:**...Because who _you_ are, is good and beautiful, but lost. You need someone to help you find "you".

Aiko didn't move. All she did was look over my shoulder and tear up, overjoyed and saddened by my words.

I decided to abruptly end this moment to not let it get in the way of touring, or even, the band's career.

 **Farndee:** Aiko, let go. We have a show happening in two days.

 **Aiko:** Why can't we just enjoy this moment?

I slowly made her let go of me by sliding off her arms from my shoulders.

 **Farndee:** Now is not the time. Maybe when it _feels_ right. Let's get some rest.

 **Aiko:** Okay.

* * *

The next day, I woke up to wake up Stan to get the bus moving for Washington. He looked refreshed and ready. Stanley got in to the driver seat, put on his seatbelt, shifted the gear into drive and we were on the move, with only 4 hours ahead of time.

We all rehearsed on our instruments while still moving. Stan didn't seem annoyed at all by the sound that was happening behind him. Lillian tried out a new beat with some hard snares and more cymbal crashes. Aiko changed the tune of her guitar to sound lower and punk-like. Aswad wanted to have his guitar sound like old-school Rock n Roll. Aiman's guitar stayed the same way, being bass. I have improved my voice for a few weeks before the tour, and it was getting better.

We finally reached Washington and a stage was already set up. We called up a few unpaid interns from Washington to help us out on setting the place up. We polished our stuff and had the interns put up flyers everywhere to get word out to everyone, saying "We are ready to perform in your state".

 **2 HOURS LATER.**

Everything was ready and we were all pumped for this part of the show. We wanted to make sure these people were entertained. Everyone was screaming even though they have never heard of us at all. It was a great feeling because we needed that support.

 _"How are you doing today, Washington? You guys ready?!"_

We started as always with the drums, then the rhythm, bass and then, lead guitar. Vocals were later spat out by me.

* * *

We performed a total of 12 songs. We wrapped up a few equipment, but not before performing a _Green Day_ to end the show. We performed _"Private Ale"_ from the album _"Kerplunk"_.

 _"I wonder down these streets all by myself, think of my future now"_

We promised we would perform a _Green Day_ song to properly end each show.

 _"I just don't know, I don't seem to care. I stop to notice that, I'm by your home"_

 _"I wonder if you're sitting all alone or is your boyfriend there?"_

* * *

Done again. We finally wrapped up completely everything we had and once again, shoved it at the back of the bus. We kept on thinking about getting more space at the back of the vehicle. However, that would take a lot of money.

Stanley was out buying "lunch" from a nearby burger stall. He needed something to fuel his empty stomach up. He was hungry as hell and didn't eat anything for eight hours. We were all waiting for him to come back with his food.

He finally returned with his mouth cover in mustard and ketchup, also ketchup stain on his shirt.

 **Farndee:** I see you've been working up on your appetite.

Stan licked his fingers and wiped his face with a napkin.

 **Stanley:** The burgers they sell here are great. You should get one.

 **Farndee:** Not in the mood for burgers. Anyone else?

 **Aswad and Aiman:** We are!

 **Aiko:** No...

 **Lillian:** I want one, too.

And so, Stanley led them to the stall where he bought his food, with me joining along to pay for them. It was not much, but the food they served there was quite delectable.

 **3 MINUTES LATER**

 **Farndee:** Hey Stan!

Stan turned around.

 **Stanley:** Yeah?

 **Farndee:** We should get going. We don't have much time to lose.

 **Stanley:** Righty-o, boss!

We all finished up our food and headed straight for the bus. Hopped in again, with everyone in position, Stanley got in the seat and ignited the engine. Off to Las Vegas, Nevada!

 **The End. Part 10 coming soon.**


End file.
